Entrance to the Inter-Galactic
by Lubljanka007
Summary: So what if Slam Dunk was a planet and its All Star Players were chosen to play in the Inter-Galactic Tournament, and had to take Entrance Requirement Examination to ensure they were fit mentally and physically to survive the journey into space? This is my first attempt at humour, and just a word of warning, no basketball games here as I am not good at that... *Completed*
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer** :

I don't own any of the Slam Dunk characters, and the selection is based on the Slam Dunk All Stars Team, though I took some liberty in exchanging and excluding some of the members... please do not take this as an offense or insult to the characters.

 **Prologue:**

Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far away… © (sorry Star Wars Enterprise)

There was a tiny planet called Slam Dunk, and its capital was called Kanagawa.

The planet was puny, extremely undersized, and housed probably only 500 or so inhabitants. And to make it worse, almost half of it was covered with ocean.

There was also something very peculiar on this planet, and that was the men outnumbered the women almost 10 to 2.

In a café sat 4 people, all male.

One was more rotund and older than the others, and one was almost a-third of the age of the rest.

"So, the Inter-Galactic is coming up." Said one of them, his face was wrinkly, more so than his age should be, drinking his coke from a straw.

"Yes. Ho ho ho."

"Moichi and I were thinking," continued one guy with a paper fan, "since none of our team alone will be good enough to win the Intergalactic game," he bat his fan, "maybe we should come up with a joint team."

The younger one's eyes brightened up, "I think that is a good idea!" He blinked as his long lashes fluttered.

"Ho ho ho," said the rotund one, "Why not, it is good that our teams work together for once, instead of against each other."

"So, who do we take?"

"I want him in the center." said the one with a wrinkly face.

"And him as a shooting guard."

All nodded.

"Him and him….you simply can't form a team without those two…." The wrinkled face counted with his fingers.

"Ho ho ho."

"He would be a good back-up center." said the guy with the fan.

"But he left basketball a long time ago. He had now become a sushi chef." Shook the head of the wrinkled face.

"How about him?" the younger one now asked, "He is probably not as big and as intimidating as the one you just mentioned, but he is good too." The younger one was now beaming with pride.

"Yeah, let's take him."

"He will be a good back-up shooting guard…"

"Ho ho ho."

"There is no discussion on Point Guard, it has to be him." said the guy with the fan.

"And who will be the back-up?" asked the younger one.

"You." replied the one with the fan firmly.

"Me?" already large eyes widened, "but I'm the coach!"

"Cut it Fujima," said the guy with the wrinkled face with a fierce expression, "We already have three coaches here, and all of us are more experience than you!"

The coach called Fujima could only agree silently, though his eyes showed defiant.

"And, who will be the back-up as the small forward?"

Then came a moment of silent.

"What about him?" fan opened again, and started batting, "he is not as big as the others, but he can jump high."

"A bit cocky if you asked me."

"Well, it is not like we are short of problem children in this team, what would one more make?"

"You are right on that."

"And the back-up for power forward?"

"I was going to suggest him, but he is still in rehabilitation due to his back injury."

"And him?"

"No, his skills are not yet on the Inter-galactic level…" shooked the wrinked face.

"What do you think, Anzai-sensei?"

"Ho ho ho, why not we just take him then? Though he is still recovering, entering the Inter-galactic will definitely provide him with much needed experience."

The other three nodded in unison.

"So, who will prepare the invitation letter?"

All three of them looked at the youngest one.

"Alright, alright," Fujima raised his hands in defeat, "I will do it, and all four of us will sign."


	2. The Invitation

The invitation letters arrived almost all at the same time to the invitees at their respective domicile.

When all of them opened it, it read:

* * *

Dear Planet Slam Dunk's most gifted players,

In view of the up-coming Inter-Galactic, we, as the Board of the Slam Dunk's Basketball Association, would like to inform you that you have been chosen to be part of this highly prestigious Slam Dunk Basketball Intergalactic Team. Your skills, talents, perseverance and determination had made you stand out from the rest.

We therefore cordially invite you to our first meeting at (time concealed for privacy reason) on (date concealed for privacy reason), in the (gym's name concealed for privacy reason).

The rest of the team will be announced to you on the first meeting.

We look forward to seeing you at the appointed time.

Cordially yours,

Anzai Mitsuyoshi Taoka Moichi Takato Riki Fujima Kenji

* * *

Four pairs of hands were trembling, dumb-founded by their selection.

One smirked, "Took you guys long enough."

One grinned, "Oh boy."

One just eyed the wordings on the letter; foxy eyes widened an invisible micrometer.

"Ha ha ha ha ha!" laughed two at their separate locations.

"I am a Genius, after all!" said one "They can't win the Inter-Galactic without me! Ha ha ha!" He accidentally bent too much backward that his back creeked a little.

"Ouch!"

"They can't live without me, the Super Rookie! He he he!" he was jumping up and down, petrified a four-legged creature that was waving its tail at him, 'Wait, can I bring my dog?'


	3. The All Star Team

On the appointed day, close to the appointed time and at the appointed location.

The selected players were slowly coming into the gym.

The three coaches, minus Fujima, was sitting on a row of table set out before them, a few meters away from the entrance of the gym.

Shortly before the clock struck the appointed time, nine players already gathered.

"WHAT….! Rukawa is here too?" squeaked Sakuragi and Kiyota inwardly when they saw the sleepy rookie there.

Then they saw each other, which made their day worse, "Monkey -!" they yelled loudly, followed by some noisy exchange of insults and expletives.

Rukawa was standing there expressionless, thinking 'Do'aho times two', and tried to be oblivious to their presence.

"Hi, Fujima, long time no see." said a person with unusually golden tanned skin.

"Hi Maki," extended Fujima his hand and took Maki's, "Good to see you." His tall, glasses-wearing companion stood closely behind him, eyeing the Kainan's captain defensively.

Akagi was surprised to see two other than Rukawa of his team mates there, "Well, he was once an MVP, after all." He thought about one of them.

Mitsui was standing there by himself, with a hopeful smirk on his face.

Maki was now talking to his teammates, the best shooting guard in planet Slam Dunk, Jin Soichiro.

Now the clock struck the appointed time.

"Where the hell is that damn IDIOT?" fumed Coach Taoka silently, anger rushing to his face, but he had to keep his cool in front of the other coaches.

"OK, good morning everyone!" said Coach Takota loudly.

Everything stood still in their respective places, facing the coaches sitting in front of them.

Coach Anzai was motionless; he looked like the statue in front of Kentucky's Friend Chicken Fast Food chain, just sitting down.

Everyone's back straightened a little upon hearing the greeting to pay attention.

"It is our honour to have you here!" continued Coach Takota, "You have been selected to form the Slam Dunk Intergalactic All Star team, to compete in the - "

Then the door of the gym slid open, and a cheerful voice beamed in, "Good Morning!"

Hair upright, smiley face, it was Sendoh, coming late as usual.

Rukawa's eye sharpened a little when he saw his arch rival. He had wondered why the Ryonan's Ace was not selected, and realized that he indeed was selected, and was just coming late (as usual).

'Do'aho times three.' he mused silently.

Coach Taoka would have strangled his ace if the others would not have been there, and toss his lifeless body into the other half of the planet filled with water.

Coach Takota coughed, allowing a few seconds for Sendoh to settle in at the back of the crowd (hey, nine is a crowd), and continued, "You have been selected to form the Slam Dunk All Star team, to compete in the Inter-Galactic Basketball Tournament!"

A few eyes widened. Two were drooping close.

"For now, you will work with one another instead of against each other. Understood? No exceptions!"

Most of them nodded, Maki smirked, Sendoh grinned and shrugged like he did not care, Sakuragi and Kiyota eyed each other maliciously, and Rukawa was in the process of dozing off.

"So we will now announce your position in the team!"

Everyone was at that moment paying attention, except Rukawa who was already asleep, standing. A blob of snort came out of his nose, expanding and receding depending on his breathing.

Kiyota was grossed out. "Yak!" he thought.

"Captain and Point Guard," yelled Coach Taoka loudly, "Maki Sinichi!"

Maki nodded, though he never expected anything less than a Captain and a starter Point Guard position.

"Manager and second Point Guard – Fujima Kenji!"

Fujima nodded.

"Shooting Guard, Jin Sinichiro!"

"Second Shooting Guard, Mitsui Hisashi!"

Mitsui smirked.

"Center and Vice-Captain, Akagi Takenori!"

"Second Center, Hanagata Toru!"

Hanagato looked happily at Fujima, and received a warm smile back.

"Power Forward, Sendoh Akira!"

No change of expression in Sendoh's face.

"Second Power Forward, Sakuragi Hanamichi!"

'I am really a Tensai!' thought Sakuragi.

"Small Forward, Rukawa Kaede!"

Snore.

"Second Small Forward, Kiyota Nobunaga!"

Then Coach Taoka's noticed something unusual and his eyes narrowed, "Kiyota! Why did you bring your dog?"

"Urgh," Kiyota looked at the being held in his hand, "I thought if we were going to space, I would want Mickey to come with me."

Sakuragi and Mitsui were rolling on the floor laughing.

Coach Takota rolled his eyes, and continued,

"OK, now you know your position. Before we start training, however, there are Inter-Galactic Entrance Requirements, and by that I don't mean your skills. We all know you are more than capable in the basketball department…"

"So what kinds of requirements are there?" Maki, now the Captain (though he never thought of himself otherwise), asked.

Coach Taoka now stood up, "To ensure you can handle the journey into the Inter-Galactic."

Some eyes narrowed, Rukawa snored again.

"There are entrance examinations, to ensure you guys are fit mentally, psychologically and physically for the journey."

"The travel into space can be very demanding." accorded Coach Takota.

"And there is the motivational letter thing." Said Fujima from the crowd.

"WHAT-?"

"Ho ho ho," said Anzai-sensei now, "A one-page thing to state why you are good enough for the Inter-Galactic."

Before the whining could take off, interrupted Coach Takato, "Have everyone brought the things you need?"

All nodded, some raised their duffel bag as evident.

"OK, for the next three days, you guys will need to stay in the Examination Center for preparation, which is just above this gym."

Everyone except Rukawa looked up, yes, there was a facility above the gym alright.

As everyone took their duffel bags and headed for the Examination Facility, Akagi had to nudge Rukawa to wake him up. He was the only one towering over the Rookie in case he threw a punch.

The next dreadful thing was the room assignment.

Maki with Jin, Akagi and Mitsui, Fujima and Hanagata, it was originally planned that Rukawa will share a room with Sakuragi since they were both from the same school, but in order to avoid casualty they put Sendoh with Rukawa, and Sakuragi with Kiyota plus the dog.

Then they thought better of it, having Sakuragi with Kiyota meant no one would get any sleep for the next three days, so they switched again.

Maki with Akagi, Mitsui with Sakuragi, Fujima and Hanagata, Rukawa and Sendoh, Kiyota and Jin and the dog.

So now that was settled.

"So, in order to prepare you guys for the entrance, we had prepared some mock tests. The first of the mock test will start tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. Don't be late! Ho ho ho." Said Anzai-Sensei and dismissed the team

The rest of the day went rather uneventfully.

Some were practicing on the basketball court, some slept (guess who), some went eyeing the goldfishes in the pond outside the gym, and realized he forgot his rod (you know who), and some others were bickering with each other (you know who as well)…


	4. Inkblot Test

9 a.m. the next day came the first test promptly, the Inkblot Test.

The Inkblot test is a psychological test used to examine the subject's personality characteristics and emotional functioning, and to detect any underlying thought disorder. It was something very critical if you were going to be put into a concealed, pressurized metal tube with a bunch of half-strangers (whom psychological state you do not know) and shot into space with no chance of escaping until your destination.

"Oh boy, I hope my boys can pass these tests…" thought Anzai-Sensei, he had the most problematic boys among them, times three.

When the guys all sat down at the examination center, each of them was given a piece of paper with number 1 to 30. At the front of the room was a screen, which flashed a number accompanied by a certain inkblot image. The participant had to write down what they thought they saw.

Sendoh showed up 9 minutes after the test had started and had to be given the instruction again, Coach Takota rolled his eyes and started the slide again.

He was probably not the only one who felt like strangling the Ryonan's Ace at that moment.

As various images of Inkblot appeared on the screen, Maki, Akagi, Fujima, Hanagata and Jin saw various things, butterfly, an old man, some flowers, beetle, fire, frog, forest, cat…

Mitsui, the ex-gangster, saw something violent and vulgar in each of the picture, a guy carrying three knives, the man being stabbed, a naked woman, Tetsuo without pants on…

Kiyota saw himself doing something extra-ordinary in each of the picture, himself dunking over Michael Jordan, himself handling the ball even octopus would envy, himself scoring 100 points while carrying Mickey…

Sakuragi thought all the pictures looked like Haruko admiring him doing various non-human activities, flying with a Superman cape while dunking, jumping to the height of the Tokyo Tower, flying over Mount Fuji with a cape with the wording "Tensai" on it, and Huroka's adoring eyes.

Rukawa only saw basketball in each and every one of them, he wrote them down one after another, but he fell asleep by picture 21, and his drool smeared some of his writings.

Sendoh saw an alternate of three things, fish that he had not caught before, lemon, and basketball. So he wrote those down: 1. Butterfly fish, 2. Lemon, 3. Basketball, 4. Fugu, 5. Lemon, 6. Basketball, 7. Tuna, 8. Lemon, 9. Basketball and so on...


	5. End of Day One

Coach Taoka and Coach Takato winced so hard when they saw the first result of the mock test.

Rukawa's was 1. Basketball, 2. Basketball, 3. Basketball … by 17 the paper was crinkled by dried drool and all the writing from 17 to 21 were smeared with the then still fresh drool. From 21 onwards were blank.

Coach Takota had to hide Sendoh's paper from Coah Taoka, fearing that the list of exotic fishes, lemons and basketballs might just cause the genius's coach to lose it, strangle his star player, and toss his lifeless body into the other half of the planet.

He also had to hide Mitsui's from Coach Anzai's view, fearing the old man's heart might just decide to stop beating if he read what was on Mitsui's answer. 'Who is this Tetsuo by the way…?' he thought since the name appeared a couple of times on the paper, each one in a state of various vulgarities.

He only rolled his eyes when he saw Kiyota's and Sakuragi's answers, 'At least these two are just stupid and full of themselves…"

It was to their relieves that at least half the team were somewhat normal.

Maki, Fujima, Hanagata, Jin and Akagi were considered psychologically stable, had no suicide or any murderous intention.

Sakuragi and Kiyota were simply over-confident, and probably lacking in the IQ department.

Sendoh, he wasn't sure if this was a genius or an idiot, most likely the latter.

Rukawa probably did not have brains at all.

Mitsui… let's just say they should probably tie him up and gag his mouth when he was on the space ship.

The afternoon was then again free for all.

Some were practicing on the basketball court, some slept, some went eyeing the goldfishes in the pond outside the gym and regretted he forgot his rod, and some continued their bickering with each other…

So with that the first day ended.


	6. Unwanted visitor

Or so they thought.

Later in the afternoon they were given the program for the next days.

In the morning there would be medical examination, to ensure all were fit to take part in the weightlessness training program in the afternoon; and on the third day they had to write the motivational letter thing, and to experience 0G while being spun in a pressurized metal tube to simulate the journey into space.

After having an early dinner (they had to fast for 8 hours to ensure all the biochemical parameters in their body would be normalized), they all went to their respective rooms to rest.

It was around 11p.m. that they heard a loud scream coming out of Maki's and Akagi's shared room.

Rukawa was too deep asleep to notice.

In less than 10 seconds Jin, Kiyota, Mitsui, Sakuragi and Sendoh were in front of their captains' room. Fujima and Hanagata were nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, Maki, everything alright?" yelled Jin while banging on the door.

"Gori, what's going on?" shouted Sakuragi as well.

"Guys, we need help! Come in already!" Akagi's shaken voice came through the door.

The door was unlocked, so Sakuragi opened the door and all of them beheld the sight in front of them.

Both captains were standing on their bed, Maki with his bare chest and a boxer; and Akagi in his pyjamas. Their faces in an expression of panic like they had seen a ghost.

"Ha ha ha ha ha!" Mitsui and Sakuragi couldn't help themselves, "You wear Pyjamas to bed? Hahahahaha!"

"I have never seen a gorilla in Pyjamas!"

"Stop laughing!" growled Akagi; "Help us!"

"With what?"

"That!" yelled Maki while pointing at the floor.

Then they saw it. Their captains' object of anguish.

It was a cockroach, a large one indeed. Three inches, or 7,62 centimeters long, to be exact. It was dark brown in color, and as with any cockroaches, had an air of evil to it.

"What? A cockroach?" Jin asked, looking at the men on their beds.

"Yes! A cockroach!" Akagi was getting impatient, "kill it!"

"But it is a living creature!" retorted Sendoh.

"Don't pull that crap on me!" fumed Maki, "You fish, don't you? They are living creatures too hypocrite!"

Sendoh thought Maki had a point.

"Shall we just catch it and put it outside?" Kiyota was asking now.

"I said kill it!" yelled Akagi, "Which part of 'Kill It' do you not understand? You dim-wit!"

Kiyota gulped. It was the first time he experienced Akagi's anger targeted at himself.

The cockroach seemed to realize the sudden attention it was getting, and perhaps some murderous intention from one or two individuals in the room. There was obviously someone who wanted it dead.

It then decided to do something unexpected.

Cockroaches, for all we know, are resilient beings. They would gladly survive a nuclear warhead collision than you and I, or the heroes in our story, for that matter. However, they were not bestowed with the best judgement of all beings.

The hexapod decided to turn and rush towards its spectators at the door.

Seeing that, everyone was beginning to move a step backward to leave enough room for the six-legged creature to pass. Well, almost everyone anyway.

There was one person in the group whose reflexes were faster than his thought process.

He lifted up his right leg, and slammed it down on the creature that was coming towards him. The cockrocach's exoskeleton cracked under the pressure of Sakuragi's foot, and gave with a faint crack and a squish.

Its internal organs spilled left and right from its previously intact container.

Jin, with his quiet resolution, raised his eye brows slightly at the scene of carnage.

Mitsui and Sendoh made funny faces as they winced.

Kiyota grossed out, "Eeeuuuuuwwwwww!"

Maki and Akagi sighed, relieved to be rid of their object of anguish and torment.

Sakuragi was now looking at the bottom of his right slipper. It was a sight of horrid mutilation.

"Oh, this is bad." He said as the matter-of-factly. It _was_ really bad.

Then Mitsui realized something, "You are not coming into the room until you clean your damn disgusting slipper!" He roared.

Kiyota was laughing so hard tears ran down his eyes.

Everyone now went back to their rooms, Sakuragi went to the communal bathroom, and the rest of the night passed uneventfully.


	7. Gorillaz Spring

The sun shone brightly on the morning of the second day. It was a warm, humid day. The kind of smoldering heat that would make you sweat profusely even if you did no more than climb a flight of stairs or walk 20 meter.

Most of them were now gathered in the hall outside the clinic, which was at the other end of the building. As the examination was going to be carried out in alphabetical order, the sequence would be: Akagi, Fujima, Hanagata, Jin, Kiyota, Maki, Mitsui, Sakuragi, Sendoh and Rukawa.

The medical examination was the ordinary kind, height and weight measurement, blood pressure, heart rate, and blood test. Then the subjects have to pedal on stationary bikes so the rate of their respiratory exchange could be measured. Journey into space was harder than basketball, so they were told, though none of them believed it.

Since the planet only had 500 inhabitants, the 3 bikes the clinic possessed was sheer luxury. The group had to be done in two groups of three, and then two groups of two. It was always helpful to have competition in exercise like this, they said.

In the clinic there was a nurse in white uniform was waiting. She was considered pretty by any standard, with her slanted eyes, sweet, roundish face, tiny little pointy nose and mouth. Her plain-Jane'ish sweetness was more exaggerated by raging hormones in the confined of teenaged boys' body.

Sakuragi, the one with the least experience with women, blushed.

In fact, in terms of experience with women, Rukawa had even less of it. He did have his Groupie and Fan Club, but he hardly considered them human, let alone female, so it didn't count.

However, little to our boys' knowledge, behind that sweetness and the angelic white costume was a wretched soul. A soul that, perhaps due to being rejected or dumped far too often, had turned dark and twisted; and harbored hatred and malice towards good looking boys.

First group was Akagi, Fujima and Hanagata. They entered the room together.

When Akagi stepped into the room the nurse was startled by his large statue. She never saw anyone this big before. He was up first, so she gingerly measured his weight and height (197cm, 90kg), standing on her tip toe just to see the measurement on top of his head. For the blood pressure she had to stretch the armband of the blood pressure monitor in order to wrap it once around his huge arm, and his tough skin almost bent the needle.

After he was finished, he sat on one of the three chairs to the side of the room waiting to get on the bike.

Oblivious to Akagi, however, the nurse secretly mused at the idea of being carried by those gorilla's arms of his. Images of the movie King Kong appeared in her head, where she was the object of the usually large ape's obsession, and Akagi thumping his chest and wreaking havoc in downtown Kanagawa. She sensed an inexplicable desire in her heart, and smiled inwardly.

It was now Fujima's turn, the nurse looked at him as he approached. She never saw a man like this before. With his feminine features, large hazelnut-colored eyes with long lashes; soft smooth cheek like he had never heard of pimples before, let alone seen one; his straight nose without even a hint of blackheads; and his neat, brown hair. He was a sight to behold. He was so pretty, probably the prettiest person on the planet if there was such a contest. The nurse felt a sense of jealousy welling inside her, and darkness swamped her heart. The creepy and wicked side of her personality wanted to do something bad to him. After the height and weight and blood pressure and heart rate measurement, she jabbed him a little harder with the needle in spite, causing him to let out a faint "Ouch!"

He frowned at her, his pretty eyes a flicker of anger. She ignored him and turned around.

'He even looked pretty when he is angry…' she thought to herself, and the wicked side of her was starting to peer its ugly head.

She yanked the needle out at an angle and this time Fujima yelled out loud, "Ouch!"

Hanagata, who was sitting there, observing the whole thing, immediately stood up. He noticed that his captain was sitting there holding his left elbow, biting his lower lip in pain.

"What's the hell did you do that for?" His voice coarse and rose slightly as he addressed the nurse.

She pretended that she didn't hear him.

"That bitch jabbed me hard." Cursed Fujima in a low voice as he walked towards his friend, so that said person in the room would not hear him.

Hanagata frowned. No, he would never let anyone treat his captain badly, not when he was still alive.

"Hey, you…" Hanagata started with an agitated tone as he approached. His tall frame towered over her.

She looked at him this time, tall and slender with an elegant face. The eyes behind those black-rimmed glasses were sharp. He had this Clark-Kent good look and a bit of a book-worm'ish flair.

But the nurse was not to be intimidated. She noticed the anger in Hanagata's voice, and knew he could knock her unconsciously if he wanted to, with one blow.

However, the nurse was not to back. Though lacking in physical strength, she was definitely superior in criminal intent. She took out an extra-large syringe from the drawer and raised it to his face, and smirked triumphantly. The syringe was so large it looked more suitable for a colon injection than for a normal blood test. Hanagata swallowed hard as she gave him an evil grin that sent a sudden chill down the tall man's spine.

He knew he had lost, and started disliking her with grave intensity.

Same thing, weight, height, blood pressure, heart rate. Then she jabbed the huge syringe into the poor dude's vein sadistically. Hanagata flinched as he bit his lips, but could do little about it. And it seemed to him that she had taken out an extra-large volume of blood just as revenge. He wondered how someone so cruel could be a nurse, and admitted defeat to himself. He looked over to Fujima apologetically.

Fujima only smiled, the twinkle in his eyes made his futile attempt at righting his captain somehow seemed worthwhile.

When all was done, they were then instructed to put a silicon face mask on as they mounted the stationary bike, each linked to a gas monitoring device. The nurse helped Akagi, and left the two Shoyo's member to fumble on their own.

They were certainly not the nurse's best friend.

As they were beginning to pedal, the nurse hit the play button on the CD player.

It was Clint Eastwood by Gorillaz® and it went:

 _I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad_

 _I got sunshine in a bag_

 _I'm useless but not for long_

 _The future is coming on_

 _I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad_

 _I got sunshine in a bag_

 _I'm useless but not for long_

 _The future is coming on_

 _It's coming on_

 _It's coming on_

 _It's coming on_

Akagi's eyes narrowed and glinted of suspicion, and wondered if it was a coincidence or the nurse was playing with him.


	8. Medical Examination

After Akagi and the two Shoyo's members were done; it was the Kainan team's turn. Maki, as the confident and proud captain as he was, led the way, and Jin and Kiyota followed him like his own personal entourage.

As they entered the room, the nurse gestured them to the chairs on the side of the room.

She surveyed them again. Maki was sitting to the right, his elbows on his thighs and fingers laced to support his chin, talking to his team mates. His well-tanned skin shimmered golden in the morning sun, and his broad shoulders were obvious for all to see. Jin had both his hands behind his head, his doe-eyes eyeing Maki and his lips twirled into a light smile, and Kiyota was yapping about something, both his hands moving frantically.

Gees, they were good looking too!

Maki thought he saw a glint of mischief in the nurse's eyes as he walked towards her for the blood test, but he said nothing. He also thought the draw of blood was more painful than what he would usually experience.

'Maybe she is new in this.' He thought to himself.

Jin and Kiyota had the identical experience, and thought the same.

Mitsui and Sakuragi were bickering when they entered the clinic.

One being an ex-gangster and the other a leader of the group of high school thugs, they both had the bad boys air around them.

They each had the confident smirk on their faces. The nurse actually liked that, secretly, a lot. Thus she handled them with more care, worrying that any false move would land a punch on her head, or her cheek, or her chin. Not that it mattered, all of them would hurt, she was sure about that.

So, unlike the others, the clinic experience of Mitsui and Sakuragi was rather pleasant.

When it was Sendoh's and Rukawa's turn, they entered the room together.

The nurse looked at them. Not as pretty as the one who came in with the first group, but these two were probably the most handsome among all of them, she thought.

The guy at the front, the tall one with the black, bushy hair, had sharp cold eyes matched with his unusually fair skin, like he never saw sunlight. His eyes, framed with jet black long lashes that all the cosmetic companies had tried to market, had a quiet intensity in them. He didn't smile, merely nodded to acknowledge her presence.

The one behind him was slightly taller, with black, upright hair, wore an absentminded smile. He was a tad bulkier than the former, with broad shoulders; and his strong eyebrows framed his elongated eyes. He smiled politely at her.

All the doubts in her mind now were gone. She was certain now, that one of the criteria of the All Star Team was definitely drop dead gorgeous good looks.

She hated them! Hated all of them!

She was almost trembling with rage, 'How unfair could this world be? These good looking young men, they probably think they are God's gift to women! Damn them! All of them!'

Well, the truth be told, these young men were more like God's gift to basketball, but she didn't know better.

She made up her mind to do something terrible to them.

But she also still couldn't take her mind off the tall, stocky young man that came in first.


	9. The Team is strong

After the examination, the team gathered to have breakfast at the dining hall.

The breakfast was very substantial, with rice, miso soup, rolled omelet, bacon, sausages and pickled daikon.

The cook was very fond of the All Star Team, and had prepared extra portions for them.

After the fast, all of the boys were hungry and chomped down the food eagerly. Everyone of them having 2 to 3 helping of rice and miso soup each, except Fujima and Jin, who ate like birds.

Akagi, Sakuragi and Sendoh gobbled up any leftover remaining. Everyone wondered how the trio could eat so much.

After breakfast, there was still sometime before the boys had to do the weightlessness training in the pool, so they decided to play a practice match against each other.

The coaches summoned both the captains to them.

"Any instructions, sensei?" asked Akagi as he stood to attention in front of Coach Anzai.

"Maki-kun, Akagi-kun," Coach Anzai addressed both of them with his usual anticipated smile, "Split the team, will you?"

"Sensei…?"

"Make sure all the teams are split, try to let the team get used to working with the each other. Ho ho ho"

"Any preference, sensei?" Maki asked now.

"Put Rukawa-kun together with Sendoh-kun, these two need to work together instead of being rival."

"Hai, sensei!"

Akagi thought this was definitely a good idea. So did Maki.

"And Sakuragi-kun with Kiyota-kun."

"Are you sure this is a good…"

"You guys are very strong… if you work together as a team."

There was no point in arguing. Besides, the coach had a point.

"Hai sensei!" they both chimed.

Then Maki and Akagi returned to the court, Sakuragi and Kiyota were arguing who could do the best dunk.

"You are just a monkey jumping wildly at random!"

"What did you say you amateur?"

"You, you wild monkey!"

"Red-haired monkey!"

"Grrrr…..!"

"OKAY- Enoguh! Everyone!" roared Maki. The sternness in his voice made everyone cringed, stopped what they were doing and looked his way.

"Hurdle-up!"

All eight members of the All Star Team came to form a semi-circle around their captains.

"OK," Akagi started, "We will play a practice match, five-on-five. Maki and I will now assign you to your team."

Everyone waited patiently.

"OK, Red team first!" Akagi called out loudly, "Hanagata – Center, Maki – Point Guard, Mitsui – Shooting Guard, Rukawa – Small Forward, Sendoh – Power Forward."

The called out members looked at each other. Rukawa frowned; he had hoped to have a one-on-one match with Sendoh; his wish wasn't granted this time.

"OK, White Team now!" said Akagi now, "Akagi – Center, Fujima – Point Guard, Jin – Shooting Guard, Kiyota – Small Forward, Sakuragi – Power Forward!"

"No, Gori…" Sakuragi was shocked, "I don't want to play with that wild mon…"

But before he could finish, Akagi already landed a knock on his head.

"You idiot! We are one team now! One Team! Get over your own problem, all of you!" his roar was so angry that even Maki shuddered.

Rukawa thought he would better keep quiet for now than to anger his vice-captain further.

Sendoh was pulled aside by Maki at once, "Sendoh, I need you to be a scorer this time too. OK?"

"But I like playing point guard." pouted Sendoh.

"I. Am. The. Point. Guard! Got it?" gritted Maki through his teeth.

Sendoh shuddered, and thought Maki had a point. He prepared himself mentally to become the scoring machine.

And with that their friendly match started.

It was a game not to be reckoned with. Jin beautiful 3 points, AKagi's Gorilla Dunk, Sakuragi's possessive rebound, Maki's expertly executed play, Kiyota's alley-loop, Fujima's lightning speed, Hanagata's elegant shot, Rukawa's explosive power and determination to win, and Sendoh's magnificent scoring techniques.

The three coaches stood there and gapped in amazement.

They knew the team they have picked was good. So good, in fact, that they believe they had a chance at the quarter-final.

However, what they saw right there and then had gone beyond their imagination of how good their team actually was.

They were invincible.

The three most strategic persons on the team were Maki, Fujima and Sendoh, though the latter sometimes lacked concentration.

If his star player didn't play so wonderfully, Coach Taoka would probably have strangled his ace, and toss his lifeless body into the sea to be with the fishes Sendoh liked so much.

Rukawa, with his explosive power and eagerness to win, could score under almost any circumstances.

Jin's silent willfulness and determination, he could hit a 3-pointers almost anywhere on the court.

Akagi and Hanagata were the pillars under the basket.

Loud and driven, Mitsui and Kiyota were extremely competitive, both a strong scorer and a defender, at the same time.

Combined with the rebounding power of Sakuragi, this was the team that the coaches had always dreamt of.

They noticed themselves wiping away the droplet of tear that was now gathering at the corner of their eyes.

The game ended with the red team winning by 6 points, the combined scoring power of Rukawa and Sendoh was plain scary, with the latter almost always trying to trick his opponent to foul to gain a free throw.

Sakuragi and Kiyota swore revenge for their next match.


	10. Confession Letter

As Sakuragi and Mitsui walked back to their room, they were both sweating profusely after the game. They kicked their shoes off at the door and stepped inside. Not having the habit of wearing socks, Sakuragi's was leaving damp, almost wet footprints in his wake as he walked into the room.

Then he felt something crackled at the bottom of his feet.

'Not a cockroach again?' he thought to himself, rolled his eyes and lifted his right foot up to see. To his delight there was no cockroach, but a neatly folded pink sheet of paper now stuck to the flat of his foot.

"What's this?" Mitsui nosed in.

Sakuragi peeled the folded paper off his feet, the side what touched his foot was now damp from the sweat.

With a swift hand Mitsui took it from Sakuragi's hand, "What's this? A… a confession letter? For you?"

'No it can't be,' the once-MVP then thought to himself, 'This guy had been rejected 50 times, so there can't be an exception now… maybe… just maybe… it is for… me?'

"For whom is it?" asked Sakuragi.

"Look at the name." Mitsui said; he had to narrow his eyes just to read.

The scraggy letters were awful. It looked like some apes were trying to write with its left foot.

"A…." Mitsui blurted out, "A… ka…"

"AKAGI!" they gasped as they looked at each other as their jaw dropped. "A love confession for the gorilla!?"

For the love of heaven they could not believe it.

"Well, I guess there is a first to everything…" said Mitsui, contemplating.

They both looked at each other, and laughed out so hard their stomachs hurt.

"But why is it here?" asked Sakuragi now, a tear in his eye. He was right, why was it sent here? They both thought for a while.

It was Mitsui who deciphered it first, "Well, I guess whoever that wrote this, did not know that Akagi had changed room!"

Sakuragi looked at him perplexed.

"Remember, because you couldn't stay in the same room with Rukawa or Kiyota, they moved you here and Akagi had to move to Maki's room?"

Sakuragi's eyes widened as he came to the same realization, this Mitsui guy was a true genius!

They gave each other a High-Five and took the slightly damp (from sweat of Sakuragi's foot, mind you) and crumpled piece of paper to Akagi's and Maki's shared room. The stench of the musky, cheesy, saltiness of sweaty feet wallowing too long in sport shoes reeked from the paper. Combined with the original sweet vanilla scent, this odd concoction now reminded both of them of a rotting rat, guts bloating and all in the summer heat.

Akagi was a little annoyed when his teammates knocked on his door. He was in the process of trying to take a shower before he headed for the pool.

'What do these two want this time?' he thought to himself.

"Here," Sakuragi shoved the pink folded square into his face as the door opened, he was pinching it with only two fingers, "It's for you!"

Akagi thought he smelt a whiff of something odd, but took no notice of it.

"What's this?" he frowned at the trouble-makers, "A joke?"

"A confession," Mitsui, seemed to notice Akagi's annoyance at their presence, retorted, "It is a confession! For you!"

"A confession?" he narrowed his eyes, "for me?"

Akagi's mind went blank for a short second. He had never received a confession before, not once in his life. Unlike the junior Ace of his team whose locker tended to be swamped with all sort of envelops in various kinds of pastel shades, women tended to be scared of him.

"From whom?" he asked now.

"Who knows?" Mitsui shrugged, "Maybe a female gorilla!"

"Or Uozumi, the monkey boss!" Sakuragi chimed in.

They both laughed hysterically now, not noticing the vain popping out of Akagi's temper.

They promptly received a knock on their head, each, before Akagi slammed the door on them.

"What, that gorilla…." Muttered Sakurag, realized that Akagi wasn't going to entertain them any further, returned to his room with his senior.

Sat on his bed, Akagi began to notice that the so-called confession emitted a stench he couldn't yet quite place. He gingerly opened the letter, controlling the churn of his stomach, and gapped.

"What's this?"

The handwriting was bad. So bad, that it looked more like mutilated stick figures on a battlefield than any sort of Japanese writing he had ever seen. He squinted so hard trying to read the words until his irises hurt. Combined with the now identified rotting smell of warm blooded animal permeated the room, the whole experience made him ill.

His first confession letter and he was sick to the stomach.

Though he was curious, he couldn't bear looking at the writing for one more second or else he would suffer migraine for the rest of his life; he tossed it to the side.

The smell was slowly making his earlier lunch creeping back up his esophagus.

Whoever that wrote this letter must have some sort of morbid obsession. He thought.

At this point, Maki walked into the room. He stood at the door, and his brows immediately knotted together.

"Urgh, what is this smell? It is putrid!" he complained; "a rat died in here?"

"It's…" Akagi hesistated a little, "it is from that." He gestured with his chin to the pink paper, now unfolded and on their shared bedside table. Maki, no stranger to confession letter, being the king and all, immediate knew what it was.

"Why would anyone give such a disgusting smelling confession letter?"

"I don't know," shrugged Akagi, "It is not like I get confession every day."

Maki wanted to say he figured, but held his tongue.

After some serious man-to-man talk and pondering of what to do with the letter, the one that Akagi couldn't read without an oxygen mask on, and leaving it in the room would mean none of them would step in there again, they decided on the inevitable.

As much as it pained him to do it, Akagi had to throw his first confession letter in the bin farthest away from the sleeping hall lest everyone lose sleep.

Close to the clinic, that was.

A few hours later….

A hand was trembling as it picked up the discarded love letter. The other hand was pinching the nose to stop the stench.

Tear streamed down squinting eyes.

The perpetrator of this atrocity would not be forgiven!


	11. Weightlessness Training

After the team had showered, each of them were given a pair of knee-length wet suit bottom to put on for the weightlessness training.

They gathered now at the basement of the building, where an Olympic-sized swimming pool, which was about 5 meter deep, was sitauted.

Coach Taoka and Coach Takato were already there, standing side-by-side with an instructor that none of them knew.

The instructor was a man in his mid-40, and introduced himself as Sasaki-san.

When everyone had formed a half circle in front of their coaches and instructor, Sasaki asked if anyone of them could swim.

All of them raised their hands.

Kiyota did too. Though of all people, he could not swim; but he didn't want to appear weak especially in front of Sakuragi and Rukawa, so he made sure he raised his hand higher than anyone else.

"Very good," said Sasaki-san, "Well, what we will do today is a little different."

Everyone listened intently. Kiyota sighed of relieve.

"In order for you to travel to the Inter-Galactic, you will need to spend some time in the space ship travelling. Being in the space ship is very different, you see. There is no gravity in space, so you will need to learn how to do normal thing in zero gravity environment, like eating, drinking, brushing your teeth, move around, and going to the toilet etcetera."

Everyone nodded in agreement, though some of them started having doubt as to how going to toilet in zero gravity would feel like.

"Since it is very difficult to simulate zero gravity here on this planet, water is the next best thing. All of you will undergo some basic scuba diving training, then each of you will need to complete a series of task under the water, in this pool." Sasaki-san said sternly as he pointed towards the large pool.

Everyone now shifted their gaze to the pool. The depth of the water made Kiyota's head spin.

Sasaki continued, "Like catching your food, brushing your teeth, move an object, move around etcetera."

It was then that some of the boys noticed a black, rather heavy looking object sitting at the bottom of the pool. They made mental note that some, if not all of them, will have to move this object from one corner of the pool to the other.

"Had anyone done scuba diving before?"

Maki, Sendoh and Rukawa raised their hands.

"Anyone had had first aid and CPR training?"

Sendoh's and Rukawa's raised hand was replaced by Fujima's, Hanagata's and Akagi's.

"Very well then, at least we won't start from zero!" said Sasaki contently.

Then the All Star Team learnt the basic of scuba diving, how to put on the oxygen tank, how to check each other's' oxygen level, how to enter into the water (back first), how to communicate under water, and how to rescue a teammate who was low on air.

The boys were fast learners, and the lesson was over very quickly. Kiyota was already feeling nauseous, but he tried his best to hide it.

So, one by one they went into the water.

At the shallow end was a corner were food-resembling objects were floating about, their weight adjusted to make sure they simulate their real-life counterpart's weightless movement in space. Some of them were shaped like apple, some like pear, some small like grapes and some even smaller like peas.

They had to learn how to catch these objects so they could feed themselves during the journey, they were told.

They also had to move that large object, which felt like it weighted a ton, from one corner of the pool to the other.

This was to simulate if any of the space ship part needed exchange during the journey. None of them liked the thought of that.

It would take six men to move it, they learnt. They wondered why weightlessness training would involve something so heavy, but none of them uttered a word.

Kiyota, feeling utterly unsure of himself, entered the water, and panicked silently behind his mask.

The bubbles from his oxygen tank obscured his view. All the little waggling figures around him didn't help either.

Slowly, with hand and feet, Akagi managed to summon 5 of the guys to him as he stood underwater beside the huge object. Maki, Fujima, Hanagata, Sendoh and Rukawa gathred and waited for the vice-captain's instruction.

With a swift move of his hand, each of them began the search for a handle to grapple with.

Jin, Mitsui and Sakuragi were practicing catching the pretended food. Mitsui thought it was real food, and took one and shoved it into this mouth from the corner of his lips, and realized it tasted like kitchen sponge.

Kiyota thought he saw something from the corner of his eyes. He turned, but it was gone.

'What was that?' he thought.

Then he saw it!

It was a shark! A big, bad, evil-looking shark!

It's mouth wide open, and was gapping ferociously in successive movement. Curved, pointy teeth in tow.

He moved as quickly as his trembling body would allow, and grabbed Maki by the shoulder, who was now gesturing commands to the other boys.

Maki turned around, and saw his now very pale junior; the first year's arms were flapping frantically, pointing towards a corner of the pool.

His movement was so wild that he looked like a monkey jumping up and down on a tree branch in the Amazonian rainforest.

Maki looked at the direction where he was pointing, and saw nothing.

Maki frowned, and with his hands he made a "What?" gesture. The others almost had a slip-disc due to Maki's sudden release of the object.

Kiyota was aghast, in normal circumstances he would have yelled, but he was at this moment under water, with a silicon mouthpiece stuck between his lips. All he had was his hands and feet.

He tried again, pointing at the corner where he thought he saw the offending object, and tried to make a gaping mouth movement with his arms. His feet were twitching in successive movement.

Maki looked again at the corner, still there was nothing.

Everyone was looking at both of them now. If you could see their expression behind the scuba diving mask and mouthpiece, the look of bewilderment plastered all over their features.

Nobody seemed to be able to see what he saw, Kiyota thought, and sense of dread passed over him.

There was no more time to explain.

Thus, he did the unthinkable. He pulled off his mouth piece, and yelled, "Shark!"

Of course, no sound came out. Through the yelling he involuntary sucked in a large amount of water, and some of it went into his airway. The water tasted terrible and made him coughed. The combination of both reflexes caused him to gasp, and took in even more water, and he coughed some more.

It was at this time that he wanted to scream, but again nothing came out except more water rushed in.

In the short few seconds Maki watched his junior with transcending horror; without the mouthpiece Kiyota had no access to air, combined with the panic he choked himself to unconsciousness. His eyes rolled upward while at the same time his body was going limp.

Kiyota passed out.

As an experience surfer, Maki quickly got hold of Kiyota before he could sink further deeper into the pool.

For what felt like forever, Maki dragged Kiyota's now lifeless body towards the edge of the pool. All of the rest followed him.

Once outside of the pool Maki laid Kiyota's body on the floor, and checked for breathing.

There was none.

"CPR!" he yelled, losing his normal composure, "He's not breathing! He needs CPR!"

The rest widened their eyes in shock. No one moved.

"Hey, haven't you guys done first aid training?" he snarled at Akagi, Fujima and Hanagata, who were standing around near them, "You know CPR?"

"Yeah… but…"

"But what?"

"… but this is Kiyota we're talking about…" Hanagata blurted out.

"So?"

"Erh… I, him… he seems like…."

"Seems like what?" Akagi frowned.

"Hey, this is not that time to think stuff like this!" Maki yelped.

"Then why don't you do it?" retorted Fujima.

"Yeah Maki, you know CPR right?" concurred Hanagata. Damn, this guy would follow his captain down the drain if he had to.

"Yean, but…"

"But?" Fujima raised an eyebrow.

"But this is Kiyota…. He… he has bad…"

Before Maki could utter the remaining of his sentence, a huge form stood forward.

"You bunch of wussies!" he roared.

It was Akagi.

With that he kneeled down, bent forward, tilted Kiyota's head to force his mouth opened, squeezed his nose shut, and covered the now open mouth with his own, and started blowing.

Maki, Fujima, Hanagata and Sendoh made a funny face.

If Rukawa could have an expression, he would make the same face as the others. But he couldn't.

Akagi blew again, and again, and again. After what felt like an eternity, or about 10 blows or so, Kiyota started coughing, and spurted out mouth full of pool water.

He took a deep breath, and stared blankly at everyone around him.

"Kiyota!" Fujima exclaimed.

"He's alive!" chimed in Hanagata.

Maki was so glad, that he actually leaned forward and wrapped the younger boy in his arms, "Oh buddy! I thought we have lost you!"

"Yeah," Fujima, who wasn't the most tactful of all people, "but he refused to give you CPR himself when you passed out. It was Akagi who saved you…"

Maki gave Fujima a death glare, so the Shoyo's captain shut up.

"Akagi?" Kiyota now eyed the large boy who kneeled beside him, "Akagi-sempai? You, you save me?"

Akagi nodded, a slight blush appeared on his cheeks.

"Thank you Akagi-sampai!" Kiyota was suddenly filled with emotion and threw the giant a grateful bear hug, "Thank you sempai for saving my life!"

Akagi was stunned, he could feel that Kiyota was still trembling with his arms, and suddenly the annoying freshman seems somehow vulnerable, so deserving of protection. The Vice Captain returned the hug reluctantly, to Rukawa's amazement. He raised an eye brow, but was concealed by his fringe for all to see.

"But, what were you trying to say Kiyota?" demanded Maki, a tight frowned formed on his forehead. He wanted to add 'before you passed out' but thought better of it, "in the water."

Kiyota turned and looked Maki in the eyes, like the thought itself was scary enough.

"Shark! There was a shark! Big, huge, angry shark!" Kiyota shouted, a look of horror descended on his face.

Everyone looked at each other, confused. Shark?

"But," it was Sendoh who talked first, "Shark is a salt water fish. OK, sometimes they swim upstream to the river in the mangroves of South America, so they can survive in fresh water, but they are still technically salt water…"

A sense of dread filled everyone; none of them wanted to know anymore about shark than it was a big, bad, man-eating evil thing.

Lucky to all, Fujima interjected, "Shut-up Sendoh!" as raised his hands to massage his now throbbing temples, "We are in the freaking swimming pool! So, no frigging shark! Salt water or not!"

Sendoh thought Fujima had a point.

Rukawa raised another eye brow, and wondered why his arch rival, the so-called genius, could be so idiotic at the same time.

"So…" Kiyota was looking around and saw the look of pity in everyone's face, "It was… it was just my imagination?"

"It appeared so." said Hanagata, patting the young guy on the shoulder, trying to comfort him.

Kiyota looked on the floor in disbelief.

"OK, Kiyota." Maki's voice softened, "Go sit there and rest for a while. Once you feel better again, come join us, OK?"

Kiyota only nodded weakly. Another thought of going to the water made him sick to the stomach.

"Anyway," Fujima said as cheerfully as he could muster, "The water is just a simulation; it is not like you will be in water tank in the space ship anyway."

They could see the muscle of Kiyota's face relaxed a little.

"OK!" Maki clapped his hands together as he stood up, "Everyone, back to the water!"

All six of them headed back to the pool, they had to man-handle Sakuragi from picking spongey fruits to help them carry the damn object.

With that the second day ended.


	12. Coffee

It was 5:30 a.m. in the third day morning.

This was the last day at the examination center.

Jin, usually an early riser, was already on the basketball court, dribbling the familiar orange rubber ball. He wanted to practice his usual 500 3-pointers, and thought he might increase it to 700 shoots per day in preparation for the Inter-Galactical.

He usually started his morning with a cup of coffee. Today was no exception.

So he walked to the dining hall.

It was still dark; and quiet, with not a soul in sight.

The shooting guard was a little surprised. If the last two days were anything to go by, the cooks would usually be there by now, preparing their breakfast.

'Maybe they were caught up in traffic or something.' He thought.

Thinking nothing of it, he proceeded to the Thermoflask Coffee Dispenser and helped himself to a cup of coffee, with a splash ofcondensed milk.

He downed the coffee in quick successive gulps; he didn't want to waste any time.

After he emptied the coffee, he set the cup down on the dirty dishes tray and walked back to the court, holding the ball in his left hand.

Then, he positioned himself at the 3 point line, and began to dribble.

Aimed, jumped, released.

His smooth, seamless movement sent the ball into the air in a trajectory of a perfect parabola, and it flew through the net with a quiet swiish.

He smiled; he liked the sound of that.

Then he proceeded to another position, dribbled, aimed, jumped, released.

Again, the ball went it without even touching the rim.

Contended, he positioned himself in yet another spot, now closer to the half court line than the 3 point line.

Then, something struck him.

His stomach was making grumbling noise, which was unusual. He was not always hungry like Akagi or Sendoh, who gobbled up everything. Jin, in fact, ate very little, and thought of eating as nothing more as sustenance than to be enjoyed.

Grumbled some more.

Then, with a sudden urge, he dropped the ball and ran towards the toilet.

While sitting on the toilet, he felt like he lost half his guts to the bowl. Which was a huge feat considered he was as skinny as a twig.

Relieved, he went back to the court.

He still had 498 balls to go.

Dribbled, aimed, jumped, released.

Now it became more urgent.

Without even waiting to see if ball would go in, he turned and dashed back to where he just came from.

This time, he felt like he lost another half on his guts, if that was even possible.

Returned to the court again, he didn't even have time to shoot another ball before he had to run back again.

'Oh no!' he thought. It was now official.

He was now having diarrhea!

To the coaches and the team's horror, he was not the only one; the cook was down with diarrhea too.

They began to suspect that something the duo ate or drank had been laced with laxatives.


	13. Kitchen Chaos

With the cooks and Jin down, and 12 hungry mouths to feed, both captains had to do the unthinkable. They assigned the youngest of the group - all three first years, Kiyota, Sakuragi and Rukawa, to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

"Sendoh!" said Maki as he looked sternly at the Ryonan's ace, "you too, to the kitchen!"

"Me?" Sendoh had the porcupine in the head light look on his face, pointing at himself.

"Yes you." replied Maki, "You are a second year, so we are your seniors. Go help the first year."

Sendoh knew it was pointless to argue with Maki, twitched his lips, and stood up.

"Oh Sendoh."

It was Akagi.

"Yes?"

"Look after those hooligans OK?"

"Hooligans?" Sendoh's mind conjured up images that were rather scary.

"I am counting on you." said Akagi with a dismissive wave of his hand.

The younger boy had no choice but to head to the kitchen.

The kitchen was, while small, industrial and functional.

There were two long benches that lined each side of the wall. The stainless steel metal gleamed under the dull, florescence lights. The floor was lined with linoleum, which was soft on the foot and helped to prevent slippage.

As the senior of the group, Sendoh began assigning task.

Sakuragi was to cook the rice, Rukawa the miso soup, and Kiyota, the youngest of all of them, was assigned the task of a kitchen helper and to cut up the pickled Daikon.

Himself, used to living alone in Kanagawa from his family in Tokyo, had mastered enough cooking skills as not to starve, would man the frying pan.

So it begun.

Sakuragi washed the rice, and measured the amount of water instructed by Sendoh, and set it on the stove.

Kiyota was beating eggs to be scrambled, making a mess as he went. Egg white on the floor, egg shells in the bowl.

Rukawa was spooning the instant miso paste from the tub into the pot of water. Since miso soup had little to do with basketball, he felt the blackness slowly creeping in around his eyes.

And Sendoh was taking the sausages out of the freezer as the oiled pan was heating up.

Then, as if without warning, Kiyota stepped on bit of the egg white that he had accidentally spilled onto the floor, slipped, fell backward and bumped into Rukawa who was standing behind him.

As Rukawa was already losing concentration, the tub fell from his grip and plopped into the pot of simmering water below.

"Oops…" he muttered.

Kiyota steadied himself, cursed, and went on working, not turning around or apologized to his rival.

'Nobody noticed anything… so I will just keep quiet…' Rukawa thought, luck was definitely on his side, and continued stirring.

Sendoh was placing the frozen sausages onto the large pan when the phone started ringing. Sarukari, half hoping that it would be his beloved Haruko, sneaked out of the kitchen to answer the phone.

It was Haruko indeed.

"Ah, Ohayo-gazaimasu Haruko-chan!" he beamed as he heard the sweet voice, "Yes, yes! Hahahaha they cannot live without this Tensai hahaha…."

The rice was now boiling.

Kiyota handed over the big bowl of beaten egg to Sendoh, which the older boy poured into a separate pan to be scrambled; and he set off to cut the soft tofu for the miso soup.

It was from the corner of his eyes that Sendoh saw Rukawa had in fact dozed off. And to his mortification there was a stream of drool that had formed from the corner of the Super Rookie's lips and was already dangling dangerously off the perfect chin.

Things went rather quickly from then on. A little too quickly, perhaps.

"Hey!" Sendoh instinctively reached out a hand and shook Rukawa by the shoulder, "Rukawa, wake up!"

It was precisely this moment that Kiyota turned around with the cut-up tofu cupped in both his hands, about to approach Rukawa.

The drool that was dangling so closely by a thread now fell into the soup by the momentum of the shake.

Rukawa was startled. He, who never forgave anyone who woke him from his sleep, peered at Sendoh; who still had one hand on his shoulder.

It was a split seconds that Sendoh thought he saw a murderous glint in the younger boy's eyes.

The rice was boiling and flowing out of the top. The pot was hissing angrily.

Sakuragi's chuckling could be heard.

A fist swung towards Sendoh's cheek at lightning speed.

The sausages began smoking desperately atop the grill.

Sendoh, while not well-versed at street fighting, had reflexes that did his genius reputation justice. He immediately released his grip on Rukawa, lowered his body and dodged his head to narrowly miss the right fist that was aiming for him; and while in a crouching position, extended his right leg and swept at Rukawa's left, causing the latter to lose balance and fall backward.

Sensing himself falling, Rukawa tried frantically to catch something, anything that could break his fall.

The closest thing to him was Kiyota, with the cut-up tofu still in his hands.

A hand grabbed Kiyota's wrist, dragging it downward and caused the younger one to release his cupped hands, and bumped clumsily against the counter where the chopping board was. Kiyota steadied himself on the first thing he touched.

The boiling liquid of the rice was now oozing and flowing desperately onto the stove top.

The cut-up tofu fell onto the floor.

The scrambled egg was jumping on the hot plate.

The handle of the knife that Kiyota happened to steady himself with, was hit at such an angle that it was sent flying into the air. It somersaulted above Rukawa, who laid helplessly on his back on the linoleum floor; his eyes transfixed on the spinning blade, reflecting the florescence light as it tumbled.

Sendoh looked up from his crouching position, horrified.

Rukawa stared from his laying position, mortified.

Kiyota was already covering his eyes, not wanting to observe the ill fate that would soon befall the person he hated and respected at the same time.

The knife was now falling free now, directing at Rukawa's left eye.

The sausages hissed some more, smoking now.

Sakuragi laughed.

Then, as if instinct, Rukawa nudged his head to the right, narrowly missing the sharp blade that pierced through the linoleum floor just millimeters from his head, severing a few strands of his raven manes.

Rukawa was now wide awake, probably more than he ever had in his life except when he was playing basketball. He felt himself trembling.

Then, as if time had stood still, all three of them stayed like that for a few seconds.

The liquid from the rice was now flowing steadily to the floor.

A charring smell now emitted from the sausages.

Smoke filled the kitchen, causing the fire alarm to go off.

The scrambled egg jumped more aggressively.

It was Sendoh who regained his composure first.

"You alright?" he asked as he extended a hand to Rukawa to help the younger boy to his feet.

Rukawa, still half in a state of shock, nodded as he took his rival's hand and stumbled to an upright position.

Kiyota was still standing there, hands covering his face, unmoving. Sendoh felt a sudden pity for the young boy, and walked towards the Kainan's palyer to comfort him; and felt something squishy under his foot.

It was the cut-up tofu.

"Oh shit….." he heard himself muttered.

Motivated by the lack of choice, he decided to scoop up the now mashed-up tofu, and washed it before returning them to their rightful place à the miso soup.

Kiyota, still trembling, picked up the knife from the floor and started cutting spring onions.

Liquid had stopped flowing from the rice pot.

Sakuragi could be heard laughing from the corridor while still on the phone.


	14. Breakfast is over

The breakfast, when it was finally served, was in a very sorry state.

The rice from the bottom of the pot, while cooked, was burnt. Each grain was tainted a brownish yellow, and gave a defiant crunch when bitten into. And those from the top, while spared from being burnt, were undercooked and gave the same crunch without the burnt aroma. To top it off, the smoke from the burning permeated every single grain of the rice with no exception. It simply did not smell or taste like anything remotely edible.

The miso soup was way too salty and tasted of melted plastic, as Rukawa, in his sleepy state, had tumbled the whole tub of the fermented paste into the pot (only to gingerly fish it out way later, after it had half disintegrated). Coupled with the mashed up tofu that Sendoh had the courtesy to step on, and, eh-hem, the bit of Rukawa's drool which Sendoh chose not to disclose, was probably as wrong as instant miso soup could go.

The scramble egg was rubbery, from being on the stove for too long; punctuated by an occasional gritty crunch, since Kiyota had accidently beaten some egg shells into it, and tasteless, as Sendoh, due to the commotion, had forgotten to season it.

The sausages were charred on one side and still pale and undercooked on the other three sides – Sendoh had forgotten to turn them as well.

The pickled daikon was left to oblivion.

Fujima, who had low tolerance of bad food, was beginning to doubt this was a plot of the four juniors to poison them.

Maki led out a deep sigh as he put down his chopstick, and declared the breakfast an utter failure.


	15. Turn of Event

After some serious budgetary discussion, Maki and Akagi managed to persuade the coaches to have Bentos delivered for lunch than to have another hiccup in the kitchen.

Until then, the All Star Team meal choices were rather constrained, varying from going hungry; risk their lives eating the so-called breakfast, or gratify themselves from the vending machine (in terms of filling one's stomach, that is). For those who could afford it, bought themselves snacks from the artificially intelligent kiosk. Those who could not, made do with empty stomachs.

In order not to exacerbate the situation further (Fujima looked like he was going to chew the four who prepared breakfast), the All Star Team was instructed to spend their morning writing their motivation letters, in pairs, with their roommates, in their own room. After which they would have to present it orally to the three coaches in the afternoon.

Kiyota, after having purchased some snacks from the vending machine for himself and his sick teammate, walked back to his room in large stride, not bidding farewell to any of the boys who were queuing behind.

Fujima and Hanagata also bought some snack before retiring to their room.

Sendoh and Rukawa did the same.

Mitsui had wanted to buy some crackers from the vending machine, but saw Sakuragi looking at him expectantly, changed his mind. He knew that the self-proclaimed "Tensai" was a cheapskate, would eat all the food he bought, and never spare a thought of paying back.

Maki and Akagi sat down with the coaches to discuss the plans for the rest of the day.

"Hey," said Jin weakly as his junior entered their shared room, "How's everything?"

"Disastrous."

"Why?" sweet-natured face looked concerned, "What happened?"

"Well," Kiyota said as he sat down on his own bed, "With you and the cook down, Maki forced us to make breakfast, which ended up, well, in a disaster."

"Tell me."

Kiyota then went on to recount the whole incident, how Sakuragi sneaked out during the rice cooking; how Sendoh almost got punched by waking the sleeping Rukawa; how Rukawa almost lost his eye because of himself, and the way Fujima glared at them as if he would tear the four of them into pieces like rags.

Jin smiled weakly, his large doe-eyes contemplative.

"But," Kiyota lifted his own spirit in an instant, "Look what I have got!" and laid out the junk food in front of Jin.

Jin looked at the packages arranged in disarray in front of him: chocolate bars, bags of seaweed, peanuts, coke, chips and rice crackers.

The thought of food now retched him.

"Thanks Kiyota." Jin raised his head to look at the rookie, appreciatively, "That's very sweet of you. But I am feeling rather thirsty and dehydrated. Do you think you could get me a large glass of water from the kitchen?"

Without missing a beat, Kiyota hopped up from his sitting position, "Sure!"

He then proceeded to leave their room, closing the door behind him. Presumably to go to the kitchen on the ground floor for the water.

Jin laid back down on his bed, and pulled the thin blanket to cover his lithe frame. Yes, Kiyota was an arrogant, boastful, loud, obnoxious, disrespectful, and rude bastard most of the time, but deep down inside he was a kind-hearted and righteous kid who would do anything for his friends.

He smiled to himself, and being weakened from the loss of stomach content and water, he closed his eyes and felt himself slowly drifted into slumber.

The coaches had left 20 minutes ago to get some bureaucratic stuff sorted, so players were now alone in the gym.

The morning sun shone brightly now. It was not as hot as yesterday and there was now a light breeze.

The leaves on the Sakura trees rustled.

A few sparrows chirped.

The freshly mounded cicada hummed.

It was pure serenity, as if the heaven was smiling down on them.

Then came a screeching sound.

"Eeeeeaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

It was a scream. A scream so loud that some of them believed the gymnasium shook.

"What's going on?" Maki and Akagi said, as they both looked up from the defense plan they were drawing on a note book.

"Something's happened!" jumped Fujima from his seat. Hanagata stood up as well to follow his captain.

Rukawa was startled from his doze in a sitting position. Sendoh led out of sigh of relief that he didn't have to wake up the rookie, "You're awake." He said with a half-smile as he stood up, "Hey, I'm going to check out what the noises are. Care to join me?"

Rukawa nodded wordlessly and followed his roommate out the door.

"What's that?" peered Mitsui from his motivation letter, which already had some sentences scribbled on it.

"That voice…" Sakuragi opened the door and looked outside, "sounds like the wild monkey…"

"Help! Aaaaaahhhh!" came another scream.

They looked at each other, realizing that it was indeed Kiyota that was the owner of the cry; ran out of their room without missing a heartbeat.

When they all arrived at the point where they thought the sound had originated, which was on the corridor leading to the kitchen, in a small hallway to the side that had a door to the clinic storage room; all of them were dumbfounded by the sight before them.

Kiyoto was looking very pale and visibly in distressed. His face and arms were moist with cold sweat, his long hair stuck to the wet skin on his forehead in fine strands. His teeth clenched tightly together. Veins on his neck were strained and protruding, green visible for all to see. Both his hands grasped onto another arm that held tightly around his neck.

Behind him was a woman, a good-looking woman. Slanted eyes on sweet, roundish face, with tiny little pointy nose and mouth. She was the nurse, they recognized. Usually sweet-looking, though this time her look was replaced by pure, nasty menace. Her left arm wound mercilessly on Kiyota's neck, and her right held a gleaming object that was pointed suggestively at Kiyota's popping veins.

It was a scalper, a surgical scalper. Something that would slice flesh open and severe tendons and joints with one quick, decisive, pressured move.

Everyone sucked in a deep breath, everyone including Rukawa, who frowned slightly instead of looking shocked like the rest.

"OK," said Maki, his voice hoarse and shaky despite his effort to calm himself, stretched both his arms to the side as if to hold the entourage back, "Nobody does anything stupid."

The air went stiff.


	16. Hostage and the worm

They all stood there like statues, the tension was undeniable, the silence deafening. Some of them gapped with opened mouth, others bit their lips. Most of them could feel the droplets of cold sweat forming on their foreheads and in their palms, making their hands clammy.

The stand-off, maybe half a minute, maybe one; felt like an ice-age (though none of them could imagine how long an ice age would feel like, and that applies to you and me).

A light cough from Fujima broke the silence. He was the first to speak, "Listen, just calm down. OK? Calm down."

"Yes," Hanagata, steeled his nerves and concurred, "Whatever it is, let us talk it throu…"

But before he could finish mouthing the last word, the nurse hissed back, "Shut up! You, shut up! I hate you the most, and that boyfriend of yours!"

Everyone in the room now turned to look at the two Shoyo's players at the word 'boyfriends', some of them mouthed a silent "Oh", and had a look of epiphany their face.

"Boyfriend?" Hanagata didn't quite understand it at first. As far as he knew, he was single and did not have a boyfriend or a girlfriend. He peered at Fujima who was beside him and giving the exact same expression.

Then, they both made faces of sudden revelation, at the same time.

"I think you got the wrong idea." said Hanagata firmly as he realized what the nurse was referring to, while turning to face her, "He's my captain. Basketball team captain, you know?"

"Yeah, we are not in that kind of relationship." nodded Fujima as well, waving his smooth, slender hand that looked nothing of the sort of basketball player, "We are just good friends."

"Yes, really good friends." nodded Hanagata.

"And team mates." nodded Fujima.

"Yes, team mates. And he's my captain."

"We went to the same Junior High together."

"Yes, same Junior High, and Elementary School as well."

"And Kindergarten…"

Everyone until now was switching between Hanagata and Fujima in a tick-tock kind of manner as the two recounted merrily their fated friendships. They were probably lying next to each other in cot of the same hospital since they were borne!

"Shut-up!" growled Maki, "This is not the time to discuss this now!"

The two Shoyo's member bit their lips.

The nurse, who was surprised by the development until now, turned and looked at Akagi, who was standing in the back of the group, "Why…? Why did you do that?" her voice quivered, "Why you, of all people?"

Everyone now turned and looked at Akagi.

"I thought you were a nice guy!"

"What?" Akagi swiveled his head to look at his teammates with wide eyes, then to the nurse holding Kiyota, "What did I do? What have I done?"

"You… It took all my courage to express my feelings to you…." She was almost hysterical now, the expression on her face was like that of a mad devil, "And you just throw it away like it's a worthless piece of junk!"

Feelings? Express? Worthless? Junk? Thrown away?

Akagi's and Maki's eyes widened and their jaws dropped, "So, that letter, was… from you?"

Mitsui's and Sakuragi's jaw fell to the floor as well and looked at each other. So the sender of the confession letter was the nurse!

"That putrid-smelling thing?" Maki asked, the memory of the stench made his stomach churned. A scowl from Akagi made the usually composed MVP regret what he said immediately.

"The scent was banana-vanilla!" scowled the nurse.

Banana-vanilla? After hearing the name, Mitsui and Sakuragi couldn't hold it back any longer, ignoring the seriousness of the circumstances they were in, "Wahahahahaha! Even the woman who crushes on you thinks you like banana! You are a gorilla alright! Hahahahaha!"

Even Maki, Fujima, Hanagata and Sendoh snickered at the comment. They knew they shouldn't but they just couldn't help it. Akagi liked banana huh? Rukawa snorted, which everyone missed with a wink.

Akagi very much wanted to kill everyone right there and then, including Maki, but decided otherwise.

"OK, maybe it was a misunderstanding…" Akagi took a cautious step forward.

"Stay where you are!" hissed the vicious command that immobilized Akagi in his track. The scalper now pressed against the skin on Kiyota's neck, which stilled the shaking rookie.

Everyone froze.

The situation took a sharp turn from being casual to being dreadfully tense.

For a while it was as if time had stood still.

Then, Rukawa felt a slight nudge on his left side.

It was his rival and roommate, Sendoh; still wearing a nonchalant look on his face.

He gave a look that said 'What?'

It appeared that the Ryonan Ace could read his silent language, and whispered, "Take this." as he extended a loosely fisted hand to his neighbour.

Rukawa reached out his hand to receive, and immediately wanted to jerk back as he felt something cold, wet and wiggly being transferred into his palm.

He looked down at it, a long, brown, tubular being. A worm; an earthworm, to be exact. It was twisting and turning uncomfortably in his palm, leaving a trace of slime.

Rukawa's brows knotted a little, his eyes narrowed less than a little, and his lips twerked even less than that.

"What's this?"

Sendoh looked at him in disbelieve, as if that was the most ridiculous question he had ever heard. "A worm." Sendoh replied in a matter-of-factly tone, though still in a whisper, "What else does it look like to you?"

Maki gave them a disapproving glare to signal for their silence.

"I know it is a worm." Rukawa whispered back, "And what am I supposed to do with it?"

"Toss it." The Ryonan Ace hissed back, gesturing with his chin to the hostage situation in front of them.

The look on Rukawa's face indicated that he was confused, "Toss it?"

"Look," Sendoh leaned in, whispering in his ear, "Girls are usually afraid of worms. Toss it at her, she gets scared, she releases Kiyota, _you_ save the day, case close."

"Why don't _you_ toss it?"

"I don't have the heart to. It is a worm for goodness sake."

"And you have the heart to have me toss it?"

"Do you have better idea?" Sendoh raised an eyebrow as if challenging him.

In fact, Rukawa couldn't come up with a better plan himself, so he shook his head.

"Why do you have a worm in your pocket?"

"It's for the goldfish outside." came the casual answer coupled with a shrug, as if it was the most normal thing to do.

Rukawa pictured Sendoh's pockets full of wiggly little worms that would crawl out and about onto his bed, his uniform, and onto the basketball… A look of disgust passed his face, which wasn't very different from his normal expression anyway. He contemplated about changing room, but that would have to wait for now.

So, with a sigh, he got into a pitching position, raised his right fist with the worm in it, and his left leg bent towards his abdomen. In his mind he had written off his biggest rival as an idiot.

Then he used all the strength he could muster, and tossed. Tossed like he would toss a baseball, instead it was a worm, an earthworm that was released from his palm.

Sendoh watched in anticipation, his eyes followed the path of the worm. Everyone else was startled by the sudden movement.

Kiyota held his breath.

The worm flew from his palm.

Maybe it was because of the stickiness of the slime, maybe it was a bad pitch, he would never know. The worm flew a mere two feet, then took a downward trajectory and landed about a foot away from where the nurse and Kiyota stood with a quiet splat.

It wiggled a little more as if in pain, releasing more slime and a tiny wet patch formed on the floor.

"What's this?" the nurse asked in annoyance. The scalper that was pressed on to Kiyota's neck pushed in a little harder against the soft skin, which broke under the pressure. A tiny trail of blood started to slowly trickle down his neck.

"Good one, Rukawa, good one." hissed Sendoh sarcastically.

"Trust you to come up with that stupid idea!" he hissed back.

Maki growled at them, "What did I say about doing something stupid?"

Rukawa only jerked his thump towards the unsuspecting-looking Ryonan's ace, indicating the idea was not his.


	17. Save the Day

"Look, the boy has nothing to do with this," Akagi took a decisive step towards the two, "Just let Kiyota go, OK?"

"No!" came a desperate shriek.

"Just let him go…"

"He's the reason, isn't he?"

"The reason?" Akagi was confused.

"The reason why you rejected me."

"Kiyota?" more confusion. The crowd (hey, seven is a crowd!) looked at each other.

"Yes, I saw you! I saw you two kissing and hugging!"

"You mean at the pool?" Akagi looked shocked.

A nod was the silent answer he received.

"Look, I think you misunderstood," said Maki, "that was a CPR… you know, mouth-to-mouth, Kiyota passed out, and Akagi was the only one who was man enough to do it."

Everyone nodded in unison, this time including Rukawa.

"He called the rest of us wussies!" chuckled Sendoh, which seemed to convince the nurse.

Akagi led out a huge sigh, and spoke, "Look, if I ever hurt you, I didn't mean to."

And with that he took one firm and deliberate step forward.

The nurse pulled back hesitantly.

He continued, "In fact, when I receive the letter, I was… I was stunned, surprised, flattered."

The nurse looked at him now, unsure whether she wanted to believe him.

"It was my first confession letter, and I was so happy that I thought I could jump to heaven."

At this, Rukawa, Sendoh and Fujima raised an eyebrow. They got enough of the stuff every week that they use it to incinerate their fire place.

Another step.

"And knowing that it is from you..." The tall man pressed his palm against his heart to emphasize his sincerity, "Most women are scared of me. They call me a gorilla."

At this, Mitsui had to cover Sakuragi's mouth before the redhead could let out any laughter.

"But you," Akagi peered at both his gangster teammates, and nodded as they managed to quiet down, "You are not scared of me. This is the first time I met a woman who isn't scared of me."

The nurse looked visibly touched. Kiyota sucked in some air desperately as the grip on his neck loosened a little.

"Maybe I am not good at this, maybe I am clumsy."

Another step.

"But if you would allow me, I promise I will make it up to you." Akagi sucked in a deep breath, here it goes, "I thought maybe, just maybe, we could go on a date?"

"A date?" the nurse's features softened a little, tears welled up in her slanted eyes.

"Yes, a date. Like going to an ice cream parlour, or to a movie, whatever you like."

"Whatever I like?" her arms trembling now, the decisive strength that was so stubborn before noticeably loosened.

"Do you like movie?"

"Yes… I," she said, her face broke into a smile, which made her looked again like a sweet angel, "I like it very much." And with that, she lowered the scalper, and tears started streaming down her pretty face.

It was at this moment Akagi yelled, "NOW - !"

At his command Sakuragi and Mitsui sprang forward in lightning speed, and with a practiced move Sakuragi grabbed the nurse by the shoulder and head-butted her, causing her to release both Kiyota and the scalper, while Mitsui grabbed Kiyota by his nape, wrenching him forcefully from the nurse's gripe as they both fell to the floor.

With the nurse temporarily unconscious, Akagi took a large stride forward.

He then felt something squished under his foot.

It was the worm.

He rolled his eyes and took a deep sigh, gave Sendoh and Rukawa an accusing stare before taking the last step forward to help the nurse sit up.

"We will go on a date." He said as he smiled sweetly at her, holding both her shoulders, "Tonight, dinner and movie, OK?"

The nurse nodded, the large form in her vision blurred as tears continued to fall down her cheeks, her voice low and trembling, "Dinner and movie sounds wonderful".

"I will pick you up at 7."

The nurse smiled and crumbled into Akagi's chest, the swollen lump on her head still steaming form the head-butt.

Everyone led out a sign of relieve. The hostage situation was over, and everyone turned to return to their rooms.

"Hey, Kenji." It was Hanagata as he was walking with his captain side-by-side down the corridoor.

"Yes?"

"We should go on a date too." Hanagata said it with a smirk.

"Yeah right." answered Fujima with a smile, and elbowed his team mate on the side.

"Ouch!"

With everyone gone, one person remained standing at the corridor, starring solemnly on the floor where the mashed up worm laid.

"Sorry worm, rest in peace." muttered Sendoh quietly as he picked up his fish food, and headed out to the garden.


	18. Last afternoon

With the morning over, the coaches decided to move the weightlessness training to a week later. For one, they had wasted the whole morning dealing with the nurse; for second, they were not sure if Jin, still leaking from his behind, was a good mate to have in a weightlessness situation. Combined with the propensity of violence of some of the All Star members, they were not sure if some of them would come out alive. Not to mention that Kiyota was still shaking from his ordeal. The young Rookie was given the day off to calm down and to write his motivational letter in peace.

They hence collected all the writings from the other nine players to read while the rest practiced basketball or something else that afternoon. All except one person – their vice-captain.

Akagi was chosing what shirt best to wear for his dates. Pink? Would pink make him look less scary and more like those pop stars with swoopy hair? No, definitely not pink… How about a Hawaiian shirt with palm trees and the beach? That seemed oddly suitable. Hang on, he did have a T-shirt with a picture of King Kong clambering on Empire State Building printed on it… Now that is a cool T-shirt, he decided to wear that.

Little to his knowledge, that decision would seal his relationship with the nurse for years to come.

When the coaches had the pile of motivational letters in front of them (hey, nine is a pile!), a sense of dread filled them. Memories of the Ink blot test crept back into their mind, which made them shudder involuntarily. With trembling hand, Coach Takato picked up the first one from the pile.

To the coaches' delight, it wasn't too bad! The reading of the motivational letters from the bunch of trouble-makers/idiots/ arrogant assholes turned out to be less of an ordeal than expected.

All the players said something one could consider sensible. Rukawa wanted to be the best player of the Inter-Galactic, and would take anyone or anything down who stood in his way (he kindly pointed out that he doubted all the creatures in the universe could be considered always as 'one', like, hominid). The coaches were happy that there was no drool-mark or crinkly edges on the paper. After all, the motivational letter did have something to do with basketball.

As for Sakuragi, ever so boastful; claimed that it was the honour of the entire Universe to have the chance to witness his geniuses. Something he claimed was the chance of a life time that they wouldn't regret. The letter ended with a 'Nyahahahahahaha', which the coaches decided to strike it out.

Akagi and Mitsui wanted to lead their team to victory; though Akagi had, to the coaches' delight, left out the bit about kicking the opponents' teeth in should they dare to interfere with their plans. In fact, Mitsui offered his opponents two choices should they stand in his way, to have their teeth kicked in or to be beaten up into a pulp; or both. The coaches decided to hide the last bit from Coach Anzai.

Jin wanted to be the best 3-pointers, while Maki and Fujima believed that if they could be the best point guard in the Inter-Galactic, their team would be invincible – no position on the court is as important as the Point Guard. They smelled a whiff of perfume on Fujima's paper.

As for Hanagata, Hanagata just wanted to play by his captain and best friend, come hell or high heaven.

OK, all that wasn't so bad was it? Then they saw that there was still one letter left… the one that belonged to the Ryonan's Ace.

"This better be good…" thought Coach Taoka as he picked it up gingerly.

The only reaction after reading that 'thing', if they could call it a motivational letter that was; was to wince.

It sort of went like this:

'They sometimes call me the scoring machine, sometimes the genius… I don't get it. Why can't they make up their mind? Sure, basketball is kind of fun, winning is kind of fun, too… but sometimes I just wish Coack Taoka would just leave me alone so I can go fishing… last week I caught a huge fish, a horse-markerel, that was cool!'

The letter read like a 5-years old homework.

"Sendoh!" roared Coach Taoka as he crumpled the Ace's motivational writing in his fist, "You call this a motivational letter you Idiot? You get your sorry ass over here now!"

"Oops… " Sendoh was just finishing up his penalty shots for their 3-on-3 as he heard the outcry, "Guess Coach Taoka didn't like my motivational letter after all…"

The Ryonan's player then sped off court, to the squeal of Mitsui as he was now allowed to be the substitute player instead of being the referee.

One figure could be seen chasing another spikey-head figure around the campus that afternoon.

The three-on-three ended in Maki, Hanagata and Rukawa's favour.

* * *

Coach Anzai wasn't sure if it was indeed such a good idea to invite the boys to a late lunch, considering how much the boys ate, this endeavor might actually made a dent in his wallet, or his anonymous Swiss Bank Account.

However, the team had gone through much during the three days. The cockroach, the imaginary shark, the poisoned coffee, the inedible breakfast, the hostage situation, just to name a few. There were far too many incidents that the boys had dealt with, erh, rather marvelously and he definitely wanted to reward them.

He managed to coax both Coach Takato and Coach Taoko to share the bill, which the latter two agreed grudgingly.

They thus went ahead with their plan.

That afternoon, all 13 of them sat around at a large table with a _teppan_ in the middle. Uozumi, the giant of a Japanese man, clad in his chef robe and a hachimaki, yielded the metal spatulas expertly as he portioned the vegetables, grilled fish and chicken from the sizzling hot surface to each of the plate of the All Star Team.

The three coaches sat at one end of the table and watched.

Mitsui was recounting his gangster lifestyle and fighting techniques to the attentive Sendoh, Hanagata and Jin, who nodded while looking utterly impressed.

Rukawa was listening to Maki, Fujima and Uozumi discussing different types of leadership styles and the responsibility of being captains.

Akagi was sitting between Sakuragi and Kiyota, trying to thwart any attempt by the two to strangle each other; and at the same time secretly syphoning the food from the two juniors' plates into his mouth. He was going on a date tonight, so he better ate his fill now as not to behave like a food bulldozer in front of his precious date later.

Three of them smiled.

Maybe, just maybe, when this team finally worked together, they would really win the Inter-Gallactic.

 **~ Owari ~**


	19. Post-Notes

At night, in Sendoh's and Rukawa's room, it was their last night together as roommates. It was a moonless night, so with the light off the interior of the room was so dark it was impossible for them to see their hands even if they had it held in front of their faces.

Sendoh laid on his side facing the wall, and was about to fall asleep as he heard his roommate addressing him.

"Hey Sendoh."

It was the first time Rukawa ever called him by name. If Sendoh could see in the dark, he would have seen the Shohoku's Ace lying on his back starring at the ceiling, but he couldn't, so he saw nothing.

"Yes?"

"Is it true?"

"What is true?" A frown, huh?

"What you said?"

"What did I say?" _Geez, can't this guy talk normally?_ Sendoh cursed inwardly.

"That, girls are scared of worms."

 _Oh that._ "Hmmm, maybe… The ones that I know are." Sendoh shrugged, but Rukawa couldn't see it of course.

"OK, I will take my chances."

"What do you mean?"

"Give me three of those."

* * *

Back in Shohoku's gym.

When the team was having their usual afternoon practice, the Rukawa Brigade was squealing und howling and being painfully annoying as usual.

"Grrr…. Why can't they just shut-up? What's so great about that fox anyway?" grumbled Sakurigi to a pacifying Miyagi.

"Hey Kitsune!" yelled Sakuragi to his fox-eyed teammate, "Can't you just make them shut-up? They are disrupting practice, AGAIN!"

"…"

Rukawa stared at the red head for a silent few seconds, and to everyone's surprised, walked mutely to where his duffel bag was lying.

Then, even more to everyone's surprises, he then walked towards the three very excited girls.

"Look, look! Oh he is coming our way!" screamed one.

"Oh, I think he is looking at me!" shrieked another.

"Oh my god, he is sooooo cute up close!" squeaked yet the other.

Haruko, who was standing to one side with two of her friends, was feeling a little disappointed as her crush was finally acknowledging his groupie, but not her.

She bit her lips feeling despair.

When Rukawa finally came within an arm's length distance to the Brigade and the girls thought they were going to faint in ectasy, the icy Ace raised up a fisted hand.

The three of them stared at it...

Then, with a flick, three earthworms flew from his palm and each landed squarely on a girl's face.

When the girls finally realized what had hit them with a wiggle and some slime, a bout of screams broke out.

"Eeeeeeeekkkkkkkk! A worm! A worm!"

"Aaaaaaahhhhh! It's disgusting!"

"Getitoff getitoff getitoff!"

The trio fled like their lives depended on it.

' _So, it does work._ ' Thought Rukawa with an inward smirk, and thanked the Ryonan's Ace secretly.

"Done." He said nonchalantly as he walked passed Sakuragi, the latter's eyes as large as a saucer at what they just witnessed.

Even Akagi's jaw dropped an inch.

And that was the end of Rukawa Brigade.


End file.
